Village Life
by Bustman
Summary: After Jade's mother is lost in a car crash, he grudgingly comes to Flower Bud Village to live with his dad. There, he finds a certain peace he never felt in city life. Follow Jade through his first year in the country.


Bustman: Hello, Bustman here, with another super cool, awesome story. Yeah, I'm very modest. Anyways, I do not own anything but the fic. If you read, please review; I have open arms to both positive and negative. Enjoy!

* * *

_This is it._

That was the only thing that ran through my head as I trembled outside the Flower Bud Village sign. I knew nothing of this type of life. Nothing at all. I was a city boy, always had been. It seemed very quiet out here. Too quiet.

I shivered. Once I had gotten over my mother's death, moving to the country had been the only thing troubling me. I had visited a few times, and every time I had felt like a boy who had been forced to switch schools. The subject of all the gossip. All the stares. I winced. I couldn't handle that again.

But, as much as I would like to run away, I couldn't. My father was expecting me. I let out a sigh and walked past the town sign. I walked through Flower Bud Square. The librarian, Maria, I was pretty sure, glanced at me as she passed, but decided as she saw the look on my face to pretend not to know who I was. Yeah, right. Like everyone in the village didn't know already. I was the freaky city boy who was moving in because his mother lost control of her convertible and crashed.

I walked south from the square, passing the junk shop. I thought of Ann, who was one of the few people I had befriended in my past trips here. Her father, Michael, was good friends with my father, Noah. I thought about visiting, but then I reminded myself of the time. They wouldn't be open at 7:30. No way.

I crossed a bridge, and saw a pink haired girl humming happily as she watered her plants outside a building. The Spring Farm. Not in the mood to interact, I walked down to the beach and took the route there. I halfheartedly lifted my hand up to the dolphin and gave a small wave; it chattered happily and did a backflip. I let a small smile creep onto my face, but reminded myself I was in a bad mood and let my face fall, stuffing my hands into my pockets. I saw my father's ranch ahead of me. One of the things I liked about it; it was near the ocean. My mother's house had been near the beach also, on the edge of the city. I studied the ranch. The Sunset Shack. My new home. I sighed. A barn was behind the wooden house; I could hear my dad's cow Snowfall snoring inside it. I focused my attention back at the house. The moment I stepped through that door, my new life in the country would begin. Was I really ready for that big of a step?

I sighed and sat down, taking my shoes off and dipping them in the water. I looked down at my reflection. A fifteen year old boy with neck-length golden hair and emerald green eyes. My always-present khaki whitewater hat was sitting atop my average to large sized head. Over my chest I was wearing a brown, worn jacket over a white T-shirt. Jeans covered the rest of my body. Suddenly, my reflection blurred, and where an image of me had been was now the dolphin, nudging my leg. Again, it made me smile. This time I didn't let it drop. It felt good to smile again. I took a deep breath and got up. This was it. This was the big moment.

I walked up to the wooden house, where I could hear my dad preparing breakfast inside. I hesitated on the knob, and then walked in. My father turned to look at me. He was a middle-aged man, with brown hair down to his shoulders and light brown eyes. His bone structure was very much like mine, and his lips curved up as he got a good look at my face.

"Jade, m'boy! I haven't seen you in so long! Since when we, well, settled matters," he murmured the last part, looking sad, but then brightened up again. "Do you want some breakfast? I bought some eggs at the Blue Sky Ranch."

"Sure, Dad." I said, hugging him. "Thanks."

"No problem, no problem. So, have any trouble getting here?"

"No, just boarded the train, got off and walked a couple miles west."

"That's my boy! What have you packed? You only need 3 years until you turn of age and can move out." He gave out a laugh. I smiled back at him.

"Clothes, toothbrush, books, and all the stuff I'm probably going to need to survive out here."

"Good, good," he swallowed his scrambled egg. "Listen, I'm going to the junk shop later today, and me and Micheal are going to discuss the cheese maker he's making. Do you want to come? I'm sure Ann will be pleased to see you."

I pondered this. I was a bit tired after my trip, and wanted to rest before I went out to town. I also didn't want more people staring at me. On the other hand, I was sure Ann's optimistic mood would cheer me up a little bit. I began nodding my head. "Sure, Dad. I'll come. What time are you leaving?"

"12:00. We still have a while. Do you mind going out to feed and milk Snowfall while I clean up?"

"No problem, Dad."

I walked out of the house, heading towards the barn. The cow was awake now, and mooed happily as she saw me.

"Hey, girl." I whispered softly into her ear. I picked up some fodder and fed it to her out of my hand. I then took out my brush and started to stroke her. She made a content noise in her throat. After ten minutes of brushing her, I took out the milker. She mooed happily as I extracted milk from her. I picked it up and studied it. Good milk. The words my father had said on my past visit echoed in my head. _The farm is a wee bit short on gold. If it's not bad milk, turn it into butter and sell it._

I dropped the milk into the butter maker. A second later, butter popped out. Bless Ann's little heart for this wonderful invention.

I dropped it into the shipping bin on the way back into the house. Bob would pick it up tonight. My father was waiting for me at the door, getting his wallet.

"I've got to go buy things at the Spring Farm," he explained, walking towards the door. I smiled.

"Dad? Today's Monday. It's closed, remember?"

My father stopped dead in his tracks. He shook his head and smiled. "What would I do without you here?"

"I dunno," I said, rummaging through my dad's tool box, "But I'm going out to mine a bit. Scrape up some gold. Try to manage."

I walked out the door, leaving my dad to sigh and turn on football. My hammer heavy in my rucksack, I walked across Suspension Bridge. I took the long way around Blue Sky Ranch, and then traveled down the fence of another ranch until I came to the mine. I entered the dark cave.

"Jade!" Ann called out happily. It looked like she was about to go down; she had a hammer in one hand and a hoe in the other. "What brings you here?"

"I could ask the same of you," I said, giving her a hug. "I figured this was the best place to get some alone time. Now _you_ just ruined it." I said, with a mock grimace. She laughed.

"Not in the mood for talking, huh? Dad's exactly the same. By the way, I hear he's meeting with your dad today."

"Uh-huh. Let me guess; you're the mastermind behind the cheesemaker."

"How'd you know?"

I grinned. She smiled and said "Well, it wasn't all me. Louis helped before he went on vacation. Should be back in time for the fireworks."

"The dark-haired guy with glasses?"

"That's the one. I better get down to the next floor; Dad wants me home to cook for you guys a good hour before you get there."

Inwardly, I grimaced. Although I hadn't the heart to tell her, Ann's cooking wasn't very good. At least it was better then Michael's. I lost track of the amount of times I had to excuse myself that night to barf in their toilet.

I watched Ann descend down the stairs. I rechecked my rucksack. Hammer: check. Hoe: check. Milk: check. I smiled. Thoughtful of my dad to put in Snowfall's milk in case I was thirsty, taking into account our need for gold.

I descended down the stairs. I looked around; nobody was there. Ann must have descended further down. I walked over to a crystal and swung my hammer into it. Shards flew everywhere. I winced as one hit my cheek. I looked down, and saw a gold ore was at my feet. I picked it up, tossed it in the air, and put in my rucksack. The next crystal held a silver ore, and the last a gold. My dad would be happy; these sold for a decent amount. I grabbed my hoe and swung it into the ground in front of me. Nothing. I turned around and tried the floor there. Clay lay at my feet. I put it into my rucksack, and then walked over to a crack in the floor. It collapsed under my weight, and I fell to the second floor.

Here there were more crystals. I shattered every one of them, and found 3 gold ores, 2 silver, 7 bronze and 5 moonstones. I shoved it all into my rucksack, which was getting heavy. I checked my watch and grimaced. I was supposed to be home 5 minutes ago!

I raced up the stairs of the mine and burst into the open, shielding my eyes against the blinding sun. My feet ached as I ran past the clinic, mayor's house and junk shop. I skidded to a stop and turned left at a fork in the road, and raced past the spring farm, where the pink haired girl looked at me nervously. Finally the barn came into view. My dad was outside, tapping his feet. "Put that bag down," he ordered calmly. "We have to hurry."

I ran inside the house, threw the rucksack on the bed and raced outside.

"Alright," my father said. "Let's go."

* * *

Me and my dad panted at the door of the junk shop. I should've brought my undrinken milk. My father knocked on the door. Ann opened it and greeted us warmly.

"Jade, Noah! Come in; lunch's on the table." My father nodded his head towards the blue-eyed girl and walked past her. "You're late," she whispered, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Lose track of time?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, Ann, I had to go see the queen of England and then had to hurry back. She wanted to know if any orange haired girls weren't minding their own business."

"What are you kids doing back there? Ann's made us a beautiful lunch." My father gagged on the word beautiful, but Ann didn't notice, and came to the table, beaming. I clucked my tongue and followed her.

My father was sitting beside a blue-haired man, still young but with wrinkles on his forehead. I'm pretty sure I would have them too if I had to live in the same house with Ann every day. "Jade. It's been too long." Michael said, putting his hand across the table. I shook it.

"It has. You look well, Mike."

He smiled warily. "Please sit down, and enjoy lunch." I nodded respectfully and sat down next to Ann.

"So, Mike, I hear Annie-"

"Call me _Ann_."

"Ann, has created a cheese maker. How much are you planning to sell it for?"

Michael scratched his head. "Oh, about 5000 gold, I guess."

My dad gagged. "5000? The butter maker cost almost half that!"

Michael shrugged. "Cheese sells for more. And besides, now that the blacksmith has moved into town, people just aren't upgrading their tools here anymore. But for you-" He said quickly, looking at my father's dismayed face. "4000."

My dad warily relaxed and gave a wry smile. "I guess you have a point. Anyways, what plants are you planning on growing this year, Mike?"

"Well, I was thinking of growing breadfruit, maybe a couple cabbages."

"Cabbages sell for more."

"I know, but breadfruit grows back every two days. A wiser move in whole."

"Huh. I'm growing moondrop flowers. The mayor is paying me 15000 gold to spruce up the town by planting some flowers. Good man, Theodore. Knows I need the money. Especially now that the ranch is supporting two." He shook his head. "If things don't pick up, we'll have to sell Snowfall."

"What!?" I blurted out, alarmed. Snowfall had been in the family so long, it didn't seem right to sell her. "But Dad, Snowfall will make us more money in whole. It's only 3500 to sell her."

"I know son, but we won't be able to support her if things don't pick up." He shook his head sadly. "Hate to think of it, though. Well," he announced, getting up. "We should be getting back, Jade. Annie-"

"_Ann…_"

"Ann, thanks for the wonderful meal."

"Yeah, thanks, Ann. It was great. Really," I almost flinched as I said these words, but managed to restrain myself. I touched her shoulder gently. "Hope to see you again soon."

"Yeah, me too," she said, smiling a bit. I nodded to Michael and followed after my father.

Out in the cold, fresh air, my father streched. "Well, m'boy, we have half the day ahead of us. What do you want to do?"

I thought for a little bit. "I don't know," I finally admitted. "Any ideas?"

My father scratched his head. "Why don't I introduce you to all of our neighbors?"

I cringed. "Dad…"

"Come on, boy! You gotta do it some time! We'll start at the blacksmith and circle around town back to the house. It'll be fun; trust me."

I sighed as my dad took long strides in the direction of the house. I was going to become a local. My life in the village had officially begun.


End file.
